Abstraction
by Fall
Summary: Summary: "And for this, Sendoh was truly happy. After all, patience is a virtue and those who are virtuous gets rewarded accordingly." {SenRu shounen-ai. Slight angst, sap, and fluff. One-shot.}


Date finished: October 13, 2003  
  
Title: Abstraction Series: Slam Dunk Pairing: SenRu Category: Slight angst, sap and fluff Status: One-shot  
  
Warning: PG-13 for the shounen-ai theme  
  
A/N #1: A SenRu fic from me, as requested by Archangel.  
  
Standard disclaimers apply.  
  
'-denotes thoughts-' || /-denotes emphasized words-/  
  
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"Abstraction"  
by Fall  
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Everyday that he comes home from the university, he makes it a point to come and stay for a few hours in this particular place.  
  
There was something about this site that took his attention every afternoon. Generally, he would walk right past this spot and think to himself. If he were home early, he would sit on the familiar bench and smile to himself for several minutes. Sometimes, he would even put down his books and run across the small grounds, pretending to steal a ball from someone and making a three-point shot. And then he would just stand there, surveying the whole place and shaking his head.  
  
The court was small and hidden; it was clearly intended for just a small group of students to practice in. Nobody ever played in that place back then, except for a few teenagers who occasionally stumbled into the wall of vines and such. The hoop was frayed-a clear reminder of the hard practices it had been subjected to over the years. The grounds were littered with fallen leaves, and the one bench, scratched and worn out.  
  
But the seeming ugliness did not matter to him. He would still faithfully pass by this secluded place, would still sit on the worn bench, and even pretend making shots against the fraying edges of the net.  
  
This court was special to him. It held a lot of memories for him. It reminded him of when he was in high school, of the days when he was not merely Sendoh Akira, ace player of Ryonan High. It reminded him of the best afternoons he had ever spent all these years.  
  
And it reminded him of Rukawa Kaede. Of course, it does.  
  
.....  
  
They met at the little court everyday. And it was always him who waited for the other to appear. Sometimes, Sendoh would sit and wait on the bench, smiling to himself; other times he would take out a ball and play on his own. It was at these times when he would forget himself entirely, only being roughly reminded of another person's presence when the ball gets stolen from him.  
  
Sometimes the other person would come in late; sometimes he would only drop by for a few minutes. It did not really matter with Sendoh, because he had always told himself that the one thing that really mattered is that the person would never fail to come.  
  
And so it was with this arrangement that they went on by. Sendoh was the one who waited, and the other was the one who came. He was the one who sat on the bench and waited; he was the one who walked around the court while waiting; and he was the one who played while waiting. And so it was only natural that Sendoh was the one who flashes a grin when the other one shows up. He would automatically make an abrupt pass of the ball and start their game. The game would become heated, the game would become biased, but all the same, Sendoh was the one who won each and every one of them. And when the game is all over, when they are slumped over at the bench, trying to catch their breaths, he would capture those firm, unrelenting lips under his own. And when he feels the firmness melt away and foreign hands coming up to press his head down further, Sendoh knew that he was truly the one who had won that day.  
  
.....  
  
Then it was time for Sendoh to leave Ryonan. He left with pride, he left with a lot of happy memories, and he left with a promising future in basketball before him.  
  
There at their private little court they met, each wary of what the other was thinking. Sendoh had an offer from a prestigious university abroad, a most promising career in their basketball team awaits him, said the letter. One look at those serious blue eyes and he knew that he never could leave him here. Not now anyway.  
  
There was no need for words. Only those blue eyes that held so much while looking cold, and Sendoh knew that he could never, not ever, leave this person even if he could. Not even if he should.  
  
.....  
  
Months passed them by.  
  
And then without warning, Rukawa Kaede did not show up at their little court. There was nothing that said where he went, of when he would come back, or if he would ever come back. It was just as abrupt when he first started showing up in that place.  
  
That was Rukawa Kaede for you. No words, merely actions.  
  
It took Sendoh another six months to trace where his irascible fox had gone to, why he had went away, and if ever he would come back. He found out that Rukawa had accepted the offer he himself had turned down years ago. He found out that Rukawa had wanted him then to pursue his dream years ago, which dream Rukawa was now trying very hard to live for another.  
  
It was strange, the way he had acted, but Sendoh merely shook his head and grinned. 'So much like him,' he mused, sitting on the significant bench. 'So much like him to do things without words, and so much like me to wait for him without words.'  
  
And to wait until Rukawa came home, he did. He waited and waited, thinking like nothing had changed like when they were both in high school. He would always come to this place and convince himself that the other would come late so he had to wait. And then when the sun goes down and there was not a shadow nor hair of the other in view, Sendoh had another reason ready. The next day he would come with fresh new reasons, each as unlikely as the other, but still reasons he believed in.  
  
He was patient, simply because he trusted the other would come back to him.  
  
.....  
  
And now here he was again, passing by the same court, sitting at the same bench. Only now there were kids playing on this same court, only now the place was not as secluded as it was before. Only now, he was no longer the same grinning fellow who waited for endless days until sundown for a certain blue-eyed person to come home to him.  
  
The ball flies out of their range and aims towards where Sendoh sat comfortably. With ease that belonged to an ace player, he raised one hand and caught the ball in it. Delighted, the kids gathered around him, clamoring for his attention.  
  
And when the clock strikes eight o'clock in the evening, and when the excited group of ten-year olds had gone home hours ago, Sendoh picks up his books from where he had laid them and goes home himself. With a little smile on his face, he anticipates the time when he would arrive at the doorstep and be welcomed in by cold blue eyes and a half-discernable smile.  
  
He reaches the door and starts to ring the buzzer, but changes his mind and fumbles for the key hidden under the little rug patterned with several foxes. He slowly opens the door and softly steps into the apartment, shaking his head in mere amusement. Books and clothes lay scattered on the floor; the television was left open; the adjoining kitchen had obvious traces of attempted cooking gone bad; and there was take-out food for two still unwrapped in their boxes at the dining table.  
  
Crossing the room to where the couch was placed, his blue eyes lovingly took in the form lying sprawled on it. His uniform was opened in some places, as if he had started to take it off but changed his mind, and he was lying in a way which suggests he had fallen asleep while waiting.  
  
Sendoh's amused grin went wider, and he gently shakes the other awake. He gets scolded for getting home later than usual, but was rewarded by first, a growl, and then the next, by something much sweeter.  
  
It was much, much sweeter than the one they have shared years ago. Especially now that it wasn't him anymore who waits all afternoon for the other. He doesn't have to wait anymore; he would never have to wait again, ever.  
  
Because they now live together, two heads under one roof. Two bodies sharing one bed.  
  
Rukawa had come home to him like he always knew he would.  
  
And for this, Sendoh was truly happy. After all, patience is a virtue and those who are virtuous gets rewarded accordingly.  
  
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-The End-  
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A/N # 2: Strictly a narrative. I figured I would be able to convey what I planned to much more effectively if I didn't have any conversation in it. I would appreciate if none would ask me why.  
  
Review comments and constructive criticisms are welcome. 


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